Contributed by the Applied Mechanics Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF APPLIED MECHANICS. Manuscript received September 2, 2014; final manuscript received October 13, 2014; accepted manuscript posted October 16, 2014; published online October 27, 2014. Editor: Yonggang Huang.

Abstract

Classical dynamic fracture mechanics predicts that the crack branching occurs when crack propagation speed exceeds a subsonic critical velocity. In this paper, we performed simulations on the dynamic fracture behaviors of idealized discrete mass–spring systems. It is interesting to note that a crack does not branch when traveling at supersonic speed, which is consistent with others' experimental observations. The mechanism for the characteristics of crack branching at different propagation speeds is studied by numerical and theoretical analysis. It is found that for all different speed regimes, the maximum circumferential stress near the crack tip determines the crack branching behaviors.

The different results of crack branching at different propagation speeds: (a) supersonic crack propagation, (b) subsonic dynamic crack propagation, and (c) quasi-static crack propagation. The figures in the left column show the stress contours, and the figures in the right column show the crack propagation path.

(a) The numerical model of a 2D strip specimen under tilted tensile displacement loading and (b) the crack does not branch in stage of supersonic speed at first and then branches when propagation speed is lower than supersonic speed. The figures in the above row show the stress contours, and the figures in the below row show the crack propagation path.

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